Moving some ambulances to the former Mine Rescue Station on Range Road would mean quicker service for residents at the top of Two Mile Hill and beyond.

With it, however, would come the sound of more sirens for residents of the Takhini neighbourhoods.

City council members have been asked to consider rezoning the property at 456 Range Rd. to Public Service from Comprehensive Neighbourhood Commercial, to allow an ambulance bay to operate out of the building there. The new use would complement the current ambulance station at Whitehorse General Hospital.

The change would allow Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel to use the older building as a temporary ambulance bay while planning for a new structure to be built in the Two Mile Hill/Alaska Highway area.

Kobayashi + Zedda Architects were awarded a $420,000 contract earlier this year to design the station, though officials have yet to determine exactly where it will go.

As Gerard Dinn, manager of clinical operations for EMS, told council last night, the Range Road building is ideal in the meantime, with two bays and the response times it would allow in area neighbourhoods, among other features.

"We have significantly explored other options,” Dinn told council when questioned by Coun. Dave Stockdale on what other choices might be available.

Among those options was the fire station at the top of Two Mile Hill which will close later this year as the new, adjacent public safety building (under construction) opens.

That building required significant upgrades and was not available for EMS use, Dinn said. Being located out of the public safety building was also found not to be feasible, a staff report to council notes, though Coun. Ranj Pillai stated he would like to see that reconsidered.

Upgrades to the mine rescue building are estimated to cost the territory about $40,000, including exterior and interior paint, upgrading the garage doors and installing a new washroom.

Stockdale said he was nervous about the three to four years the ambulance bay is proposed to be in the area. Two years are something he could live with, but three or four seem like too much, he said.

He then questioned whether all the neighbourhoods along Range Road would be notified of the changes.

Typically, the city sends out notifications by mail of rezoning applications to properties within 100 metres of the site.

However, it can expand that area as it sees fit, said Pat Ross, the city's land development supervisor.

Mayor Bev Buckway also wondered about the close vicinity to homes and a school, questioning how common it is in other regions to have an ambulance station so close.

As Dinn noted, ambulances are stationed where they're needed, and in many cases, that means having them in residential areas.

In his 21 years working in ambulance services, that hasn't been an issue, he stated when Coun. Florence Roberts continued along the same line of questioning.

Dinn acknowledged the neighbourhoods in Takhini haven't been consulted on the matter; though unsuccessful attempts had been made to get in touch with a representative from one of the neighbourhood associations.

For residents, the new neighbour at the Range Road building would not only mean more ambulances on the main roadway, but also the sound of sirens throughout the day and night.

"EMS estimates that there will be approximately 2,000 to 2,500 ‘events' at this building per year, whereby an ambulance is dispatched,” notes the administrative report Ross presented to council.

"Approximately 1,000 of these events, or roughly three per day, would be an emergency call, where lights and sirens are, by law, required to be used as the ambulance leaves the station.”

Dinn also pointed out ambulances already use Range Road and travel through school zones on a daily basis.

Moving to the site until a new structure is built would mitigate some traffic concerns of ambulances travelling through the downtown core to get to a call, he added.

Ideally, EMS would be in its interim location "yesterday,” he commented, stating that while ambulance service has doubled recently, it is all operating out of one station in Riverdale.

Although residents haven't yet had a say on the proposal, if council goes ahead with first reading of the bylaw next Monday, a public hearing where anyone can speak to it would be held at council's July 26 meeting.

A report of that input would then come to council on Aug. 2 prior to council's vote on second and third readings of the bylaw, expected Aug. 9.